House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) confirmed at a
press conference this afternoon that the GOP cares as much about advancing the culture wars
through controversial social policy as they do about spending cuts — and
they're prepared to shut down the government to get their way.

Asked by a reporter if the budget riders (which would defund
Planned Parenthood, among other things) were holding up his negotiations with
the Senate and White House, Boehner said, "We will continue to insist that the
policy riders passed in H.R. 1 are on the table. It's just as important to many
of our members as the spending cuts themselves." In case anybody missed the
message, Boehner reiterated his commitment just before walking away from the
microphones.

Watch:

You'd expect this kind of zealotry on social issues from
someone like Rep. Mike
Pence (R-IN), but Boehner is the Speaker of the House and the de facto
leader of his party. Most of the Tea Party activists who swept Boehner into
power last November insisted their movement was about fiscal issues and not
cultural fault lines. Regardless of how the base feels, Speaker Boehner and the
GOP are going to the wall not for jobs legislation, not for meaningful spending
cuts, but for a chance to shave a few paltry billions from programs they hate.